The Phenomenon called Rahat Fateh Ali Khan!!

Ye mera geet,jeevan sangeet,kal fir koi dohrayega....when Mukesh gave voice to these lines little would he have realised that the wish expressed here will largely remain unfulfilled.In the years and decades that have followed the Rafi-Mukesh-Kishore era,no male voice came close to recreating the magic of these legends.I am often accused of being prejudiced against new songs,though I always have tried to maintain a balanced viewpoint on the issue.In fact I do like many modern ones,but they have failed to create(with a few notable exceptions) the magic of the evergreen oldies.Singers are pretty good,lyricists range from below par to brilliant,Music directors from very bad(Xerox machine pritam) to good ones.Even with several godly lyrics by Gulzar sir and music by likes of SEL and Rahman,songs came and went without creating themagic that my music loving heart craved for.Something was amiss,that extra spark which could make me fall in love with the song.There are several songs which I can easily listen to ten times at a stretch(during last sem,there was a period of half a month when I listend to 'zeehale muskin" for whole morning...everyday!!),but just a handful such from the last decade or so.

I remember downloading the ringtone of Jiya Dhadak dhadak on my cell phone when I had just heard it on a couple of occasions.This summer when one of my friends asked me about my favourite singer among the present crop,I named Kumar Sanu and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan,which was a new name for him then.But now he is a big fan of his...and so am I.Slowly and steadily my admiration for this immensely talented,incredibly wonderful singer singer has increased."Bol na halke halke" took the liking to a certain fanatic level,while "Teri Ore" sung by my favourite contemporary combo intensified the feelings."Lagan laagi' was discovered a little late but again it was special. After listening to the song "mohabbat to ek javeda zindagi hai' for more than 30 times today,I realised what I had discovered.Now I feel that since Mukesh Mania happened 5 years back,no voice has had this kind of effect on me(this isnt comparable to the craze level I have for Mukesh songs,yet this is special).Hemlatas and Shreya ghoshals did sound very cute, but this is ultra special.Maybe this was the extra spark that I longed for.I may now start taking interest in newer music albums with a hope that it will have some "rahat" in the offering.This is one voice which can drive me to a level of appreciation where I can listen to it on and on and on .....I cant tolerate two similar songs from Atif but with Rahat,its special stuff.Mediocre lyrics may be forgiven and the similarity in songs would also not be looked upon by a critical insight,as this is Rahat Fateh Ali Khan at his vintage best.In fact I appreciated Himesh for giving "teri yaad saath hai",though his music clearly wasnt the sole reason. Finally I have something in the music of my generation that makes me crazy.I have heard a few of his earlier non filmy ones,and they are only a shadow of what he is producing today.So credit must go to the composers who have known how to exactly use him.I earnestly hope that bollywood keeps on getting the best out of Rahat...for the moment...I will just enjoy....."Mohabbat ki hai daasta zindagi,mohabbat na ho to kahaan zindagi..mohabbat to ek javeda zindagi hai"

Albert Pinto ko gussa kyon aata hai!!!

He came,he saw,and he wasnt happy....this is something which aptly sums up what I have often felt for the college BIT Mesra.Now let me put this straight,I love my college and am really proud of it.Yet there have been quite a few things which have often left me disturbed.In fact my initial days were the most eventful and a pretty strange combination of the extremes;some wonderful experiences and some very forgettable ones.Anyway I will have to agree that lot of this has got to do with me as well.In fact I intend to do a little introspection here,and thus it will be the second consecutive post which is totally spontaneous,straight from the heart(and no rough work)

"You Can Win" mentions attitude as the most important thing for success,but then this is one aspect which can be ur biggest enemy if morphosised in an improper manner.I have realised for long now that I am one really short tempered guy,in fact being a huge self admirer that I am,I feel this is one of my rare bad qualities(but a very significant one).For the last couple of days(in fact within a few hours I have had a few bad experiences where most factors mentioned above were the villains,the temper and certain other things around me,which have always been a disturbing element for me.Yesterday evening, I had a simple quarrel with one of my 'friends',well in this case one of the guys around me which I really really dislike and still things seem so normal between us...hipocricy is such an integral part of the daily routine it seems.So due to the obvious reasons,I was completely unaffected by the turn of the events when things worsened.Using abuses for each other was never a novelty between us,but there things "slightly" went out of control.It started with my "temper" over powering my conscious,when I talked about "tumko to Mumbai mein ghuske maarenge"...there was even a possibilty of things taking an ugly turn when there was an odd remark of Raj Thakre(surprise!!!).Luckily it didnt get out of hand.We are pretty much on talking terms(hypocricy u know),in fact we did some cheating together in our practical exam today :) ...such is life,I didnt get much chance to think over the matter,so having regrets doesnt really come into the equation.Still there is something about me which makes me a frequent participant in such "not so desirable" situations.

The very next day(today) had worse in store.There was a general agreement among the majority about not submitting an assignment today,and I was unfortunate enough not to be aware of it.Being unaware is again something which comes very naturally to me,so no surprises here.So like any average student I took the assignment to the class and was completing the cover page for it.Lady luck played a prank on me and certain seemingly insignificant events subsequently became a source of headache for me.It was when our 'esteemed' teacher walked into the class(why the hell did he have the first period...why the hell did I go early like always).One glance at my assignment,a little curiosity and he had a good look over it,when he eplained that this wasnt what he expects from us.Ok need to clarify that we have 3 common questions(for each of us) and as is expected from good engineers only one had worked on it and rest were expected to copy it down.The fact that our "esteemed" one asked us to make changes had to bring about a sense of frustation as many people had given a couple of precious hours to it.But what surprised me was that some sensible ones thought that it was because of me that the question was changed.As is the usual case,some of the close ones did understand me but then the general opinion formed here is a different thing alltogether.Not that it matters much,but somehow being the 'over emotional' person that I am,such "meaningless" stuff affects me,at times pretty seriously.It was during this episode that another person managed to get onto my nerves.Once again he is someone who doesnt exactly fall in the 'loved ones" category of mine,well he is a friend though...thats life.It was a 'discussion" which lasted a few seconds,but got pretty heated up.Well a certain comment which was on the grounds of 'maar-peet' was slightly over my threshold limit and I had my second proper fight in few hours.

Then there was the incident with a person about whom I had commented yesterday "today is the first time I have seen him angry"and I got to witness the second time just a day later,and being at the receiving end wasnt a pleasing affair.Anyway he happens to be someone I have admired,and like being with(ok this is different),but this altercation was somewhat of a lesser degree and so it had a levelling effect.Anyway feeling nostalgic is something which comes very naturally to me,all this made me go down the memory lane,into the valleys of my first semester when I realised that how powerful the situations can get in a world where people around you are like waiting to get influenced by whatever they get to see,hear or hear that someone else has heard or seen!!The time I have spent here made me aware of a certain peculiar characteristic of mine...statistically speaking,over 80 percent of people I meet garner a wrong first impression of mine...some of my present close friends once had a very very negative impression of mine.Such things are a point to ponder about and often they make me realise something,probably even help me understand myself better.

The Million Doallar Question..Do I change myself?Isnt this getting angry at small things an activity which technically will qualify as a bad habit,and thus needs to be rectified.They say life is a strange teacher,it takes its test first and then gives the lesson.From whatever I have learned from this teacher,I believe there are certain shortcomings in me which actually make me complete,the whole temper thing being one of these.There have been infinite instances where I kept taking pangas,and certain hostilities never add delight to your life.But then it was this "negative" that made me go crazy when a teacher scolded my friend in the class for no genuine reason,to the extent that I argued with him over it.I know out of 120 students in the class,119 wont do such a thing,and it does feel awesome(really couldnt find a more appropriate word for this) in not being in these 119,but then you have to pay price for not being among the majority at times.Another thing is that I dont usually say things I dont mean,and yes even with all the default hypocricy that is a part and parcel of the daily routine.Once I was sent out by a teacher(of course it has happened many times,just dicusing a particular case) when I just went out without saying anything to him.Later several people commented that I should have said sorry.There were certain things which I tried to explain,but maybe it was too "different" for people to accept and in the end it was just regarded as a rude gesture on my part.For someone who was mocked for touching the feet of the worst teacher of the school on teachers day,being disrespectful never came naturally,well it never will,am pretty sure about that.Still you wont find many who will understand you when you are different,as I mentioned the crowd is just too keen on getting influenced by the popular opinion.There have been quite a few similar incidents where I have fought it out for something,and whenver its been for someone else,it has made me believe that the temper-a-mental aspect isnt such a negative after all.

I havent had the best of time during the last 24 hours,things may even get worse in near future,but at the end of the day its all about the choices you make,and the priorities that you decide upon.Self satisfaction is something which has mattered more to me than anything else,there are certain things that complete me,which make me what I am,and I have been proud of it.Sajal wont change,there would be more fights,more grudges,certain tense moments...but few odd ones here and there which mean much more to me....He came,he saw....he wasnt happy....but certainly...made a difference :)

In Life and in Cricket...some voids can never be filled!!

Though the heading indicates two aspects, namely ,life and cricket,here I intend to discuss just
one of them...and for a change,the less philosophical of the options available.Indian cricket team,by the end of this series,would have lost two of the greatest players that ever played
the game.Sourav Ganguly retires after the 4th test while Kumble announced his abrupt
retirement,something which I came to know a few hours back.For someone who saw cricket as a very integral part of his life for around 12 years now,these retirements mean a lot to me at the emotional level.I couldnt stop myself from expressing myself on this,and I want this to be completely spontaneous,and thus,after more than 20 posts and an year of blogging,this will be the first post which is directly being typed(no rough work).Anil Kumble,to me is someone who is as important as Sachin Tendulkar,but with much less credit and importance given for his service.Even the eras where the two were the most important ones in their respective departments,have surprising similarity(late 90s).Kumble probably won more tests for his country than any player for any country...and mind you am not exaggerating facts..I really cant think of another example where one cricketer had so much impact on the victories of his nation.Azhar won 14 tests as captain while ganguly won 21,and Kumble made the difference in most of them(except Azhar's earliest ones).People started taking him for granted,and he was never really given the status he so richly deserved.The obsession of fans for batting and batsmen also contributed to the same.300 wickets happened(probably Hoggard),400 happened(probably Simon katich),went past Kapil and went on to become first indian to take 500 and 600 wickets(certainly Harmison!!).Kumble ends his career as the highest wicket taker for India in both forms of the game.He did fall just short of 1000 wickets,but then the career isnt short of major
landmarks anyway.I remember listening to the match on radio,where Kumble picked up 10
Pakistani wickets.When he picked up 8,i began to pray that he gets the last 2,and that happened.There was a time,when most of the times India went to ball,the opposition innings
followed a certain pattern.They got off to a flier,but then Kumble came,brought things under
control.For years he kept doing this over and over again.I personally remember a match against
Pakistan,where Afridid struck him for 5 fours in his 1st over,and he still ended with 4/53 in his
10 overs,this was Anil,the fighter,the warrior.When Kumble had his off days,like any human soul has,it became so much dificult for India.When Anwar scored 194,he lofted Kumble for 3 consecutive sixes in 1st of the slog overs,and that changed the entire complexion of the innings.The last decade did see the discovery of Turbanator,who now becomes even more important after kumble departs,yet Kumble remained the best spinner for the country,for all the years that he played.Watching Kumble bowl at his best was such a special feeling.There isnt much you can enjoy in the bowling,but when it was kumble with the bowl,it was different.Even with al the fuss about him not being a big turner of the ball,when he started turning it,he was simply unplayable.Like thousands and thousands of die hard fans,am going to miss this cricketing legend for a long long time to come.As I said,there are a few voids which remain unfilled,there certainly can not be any replacement for Anil kumble.Wish him all the best in everything he does in the future,I salute the champion.

Any cricket fan goes crazy over a hard fought Indian victory,such matches have a special
significance for them.But when one talks about natwest final,it was made special for more than
one reason.The passion that the Indian captain displayed,even when he was in the pavillion is a
sight to remember.That sums up the "dada" and his character.I once read about Sourav...Love him or Hate him,you cannot Ignore him"...how prophetic the words sound.Personally I have been one of those who had his share of love as well as hatred,as i never was one of the "biased" fans of dada.One thing which always amazed me was the "variety" in his performances.I mean when at his best, one could actually use the expression "first there is god,then there is Ganguly" and the smae batsman at times batted like a no.10 batsman.I remember the embarassing match vs England where he got at least 5 lives,most of the runs he scored were off edges and was
consequently out for just about 15 runs!!..and I also remember infinitely many instances(ok this
is an exaggeration) when he stepped out to a spinner as if he was getting out for a morning
walk,and lofted deliveries out of the ground.Ganguly gets heap of praises for his off side play,but for me,watching him hit sixes,were the most special moments.In one of his SA tours when he was hitting a lot of sixes against faster ones as well,it was like watching cricket at its best.Left arm spinners feared bowling him,and when he stepped out our subconscious would add half a dozen to the Indian score without any time delay!!...now something about Ganguly,the captain.I already rate Dhoni as the best Indian captain ever(everybody will after 5 years,am sure) but presently ganguly is the most "successful" one.Indian cricket team had won a
little over 50 tests when Ganguly bacame the captain,and the team added 21 more in the next
few years.Even with more results being produced,the fact that only 26% of the matches in
his captaincy ended in draws(even with so many dead pitches in the subcontinent) speaks volumes about the aggression in his captaincy.A lot of credit for shaping the future of Indian
cricket,goes to dada.The agression and the attitude that we see in the team of today owes
largely to the Bengal Tiger.One can laugh his ass off on a video available on youtube,where Ganguly is upset when an Injured Yousuf is getting treatment and comments something like"time waste karenge ye log aur fir mera paisa katega"..Ganguly is also one of those who was
successful in all sorts of conditions,and for those who still feel he cannot handle the short
ball,I would like to mention that on the most bouncy tracks of the world,his record is as good
as that of Tendulkar.

Rahul Dravid,I feel will shortly join this group of retired cricketers.The kind of lean patch that
he is presently undergoing,will probably qualify among the 10 of the rarest things on this
planet!!..Watching these players say goodbye to the game has its share of sentimental as well as
philosophical importance,when it comes to me.I grew up watching them play,I messed up many exams to watch them on the tv screen,I abused the,I praised the,I danced when they won,sometimes did cry when they lost..and there are millions like me...Just goes to show that nothing is permanent,even the best comes to an end,careers end,eras end..we become really really senti(as I am now) and then we move one...but then..THERE ARE VOIDS WHICH WILL NEVER BE FILLED,LEGENDS WHO WILL ALWAYS REMAIN UNPARALLELED..